Online trading agents

We have written a couple of pieces recently about how eBay is becoming a livelihood for large number of Indians (most recently here). We were interested, then to see this piece in the Shanghai Daily about the emergence of a 'new' type of business in China, the online trading agent.

The article comments:

...fair-weather users may find it troublesome and not worth their time when it comes to the actual procedures, especially if they involve things like customs claims and the interested buyer is from overseas.

These difficulties have prompted the rise of a new profession in China - the online trading agent, who helps sell other people's stuff that they don't need any more, or aids corporate trading on the Internet.


It profiles 29-year old Tian Wei who, it says, is one of the first three people certified as trading assistants by eBay Eachnet. It notes that "Tian has signed contracts with two companies - a Chinese medical equipment producer and a Korea registered clothes manufacturer - to be their trading assistant. She is in talks with other companies to serve as their dealer".

I love to read about the way new and unexpected businesses emerge from these B2B online initiatives in Asia's more interesting markets.